By Andy Hunter in London/The Guardian


Jordan Henderson has been told there is no medical cure for the heel injury that forced him to miss three months of Liverpool’s season and that he will have to manage the pain for the foreseeable future.
The Liverpool captain made his first appearance under Jurgen Klopp last weekend having been sidelined since August with the heel condition plantar fasciitis in his left foot. His rehabilitation was hindered when he broke a metatarsal in his right foot during training a month later.
Liverpool’s medical staff consulted counterparts at the Royal Ballet and with the Australia cricket team, because of the prevalence of the problem among dancers and fast bowlers, and also the Boston Red Sox in the search for a solution.
Henderson, who was in acute pain during Liverpool’s end-of-season drubbing at Stoke City in May, also visited a specialist in New Jersey for treatment to his nervous system.
The England international, however, has been informed there is no immediate cure to a problem that Liverpool believe arose from a chronic overload on the heel over several years.
Henderson had not had an extended summer break for more than a decade before the pain erupted towards the end of last season. Liverpool’s medical department has discounted the theory that Henderson’s gait is responsible, an issue aired in one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s books when explaining his doubts over signing the midfielder for Manchester United.
“It’s been incredibly difficult, not just for me but for the staff as well,” Henderson said.
“With my metatarsal I knew exactly what kind of time scale I’d be out for but with my heel there isn’t a timescale, there isn’t really a cure.
“That’s been the most difficult part. It’s been hard but I’ve had good people around me like Chris Morgan [the head of physiotherapy] and all the staff here. There have been times when I’ve been pretty down because we couldn’t find the answers. Now I’m at a point where I can function, where I can train and start playing some part in games. Hopefully I can continue like that and it will continue to improve.”
Henderson’s game time will be managed while he builds his fitness back up and his best hope could be for the plantar fascia, the tissue that connects the heel bone to the bones in the foot, to rupture.
Jamie Carragher suffered the same problem late in his Liverpool career before a rupture helped alleviate the pain.
The 25-year-old said: “I spoke to Carra briefly and also to quite a few experts and doctors all over the world. There is nothing set in stone for this injury. A lot of people have said to keep having cortisone injections and eventually it may just rupture and that might be the relief that is needed but no one knows. It can vary. People have been out for months after a rupture and others have been out for a week or two.”
Henderson felt “a burning, stabbing, nervy” pain whenever he planted his left foot for several months and, while the discomfort has reduced significantly, he was aware of the problem in this week’s substitute appearances at home to Swansea City and in the Capital One Cup at Southampton.
He added: “It’s hard not to be aware of it because I’ve been out for so long with it. When I am coming on all I am focusing on is trying to play my best for the team but there are times in the game when I feel it a little bit and think: ‘Is it back?’
“I just need to forget about that and concentrate on playing football. If it comes back, it comes back. There is nothing I can do about it but on the pitch I need to focus on the job and deal with the consequences after the game.”
As for Ferguson’s suggestion the midfielder’s gait could cause injury problems later in his career, Henderson responded: “I don’t think it has anything to do with my gait. Hopefully as I take my load up, and the maximum I have played is 25-30 minutes so far, my foot doesn’t react too much and I can get back to the level I want to be at.”
The Liverpool captain said he felt “helpless” looking on as Brendan Rodgers lost his job and when Klopp began to implement ideas on the training ground without him. Henderson said of the team’s transformation under the German coach: “The manager is very energetic and passionate on the training field and wants us to be like that when we are playing. That has transmitted to the players. If you look at our performances of late they have been really high intensity and high quality with and without the ball.
“He has got that message across very clearly and very well and the players have taken that on board. That is the biggest thing I would say.”